Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford entered a preliminary plea of not guilty on a felony murder charge Friday for a former Hammond and Gary police officer accused of killing the mother of three of his children.

Kevin Campbell, 31, of the 6100 block of Wisconsin Street in Hobart, is charged in the Nov. 18 shooting death of his former girlfriend, Tiara Thomas, 30. She was shot to death in the Portage apartment she shared with her fiance, Marqtell Robinson.

Campbell is being held without bond.

Merrillville attorney Roy Dominguez, the former Lake County sheriff, is representing Campbell. His wife, Alicia Campbell, and his father, Kent Campbell, attended the brief hearing. They declined to comment afterward.

Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel is handling the case for the state.

Campbell, wearing an orange jumpsuit and with his hands in handcuffs in front of him, appeared via video in a room at the Porter County Jail with seven other inmates.

Campbell repeatedly answered, "Yes, your honor," as Bradford asked him if he understood the allegations against him and the penalties he would face if found guilty. Campbell faces 45 to 65 years in prison if convicted.

Bradford also issued a no-contact order between Campbell and his children, ages 11, 8 and 5.

No trial date was set during the hearing, but a status hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 8 and a pretrial conference for 9 a.m. March 7.

Campbell was taken into custody shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday. He was arrested outside his home in Hobart as he left to take his wife to work.

Police have said Campbell might have had a financial motive for his alleged crime.

According to charging documents, Campbell's vehicle had been repossessed, and he and Thomas argued about his payment of $1,495 a month in child support and how the money was spent. He had a bank account balance of $7.58 at the time of Thomas' death, and police found numerous voice mails from creditors on his cellphone, court documents said.

Thomas was discovered with several gunshot wounds around 7:30 a.m. Nov. 18 when Robinson found her after he returned from work to their apartment in the 5900 block of Old Porter Road in the Park Place apartment complex.

She died a short time later at Methodist Hospital Northlake Campus in Gary. She suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, head and both wrists.

A version of this article appeared in print on December 05, 2015, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "No bond for former cop accused in Portage killing" —
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